Newsstands from Seattle to New York quickly sold out of Wednesday's papers declaring Barack Obama the nation's first black president as some jubilant customers picked up two, three or even 30 copies as keepsakes.

An oil painting of Michelle Obama and her daughter Sasha was unveiled Wednesday as part of an exhibition by artist Elizabeth Peyton, best known for her images of diverse historical figures and celebrities such as Napoleon and Kurt Cobain.

The new, dynamic landscape of mortgage lending today is a world in which even those with good credit are having trouble getting mortgages or the loan terms they want. Buyers and properties are being forced to go through extra scrutiny.

This is the new, dynamic landscape of mortgage lending today a world in which even those with good credit are having trouble getting mortgages or the loan terms they want. At a time when politicians and economists are trying to find ways to help Americans buy more homes to reduce the bloated inventories that are causing real estate values in most cities to fall, the mortgage market is undergoing tumultuous changes.

The economic crisis threatening the nation with the worst recession in decades has set off tremors among non-profits and charities large and small that rely on donations from Wall Street, industry and average Americans.